The country is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the victory in the Kargil war. This war was fought in May-June 1999 on thousands of feet high snowy mountains. While our political, diplomatic and administrative systems played their respective important roles in this war, the armed forces succeeded in thwarting the evil intentions of Pakistan in a well-planned joint operation. In this war fought in extremely difficult conditions, all three wings of the Indian Army wrote a wonderful saga of bravery. In the Kargil war, the Indian armed forces were involved in the joint operation in their respective roles. These three operations were – Operation Vijay by the Army, Operation Safed Sagar by the Air Force and Operation Talwar by the Navy. While the valuable contribution of the Army and the Air Force has been well highlighted, very few people know about the important actions taken by the Navy in the maritime sector.
Without crossing the Line of Control, the Indian Air Force fighter jets and the Army’s artillery were used with precision to target the Pakistani intruders’ hideouts on the high peaks of the Kargil region and ultimately the Indian soldiers conquered those peaks. While at sea, the Navy was free from the obligation of not crossing the Line of Control and was actively deployed in full force to signal to Pakistan that any expansion of the war would result in the Indian Navy overpowering Pakistan. This plan was a departure from India’s strategic restraint, which has generally been seen against Pakistan’s traditional provocations.
Admiral Sushil Kumar, who was the Navy Chief at the time of the Kargil war, writes in his memoirs ‘A Prime Minister to Remember-Memories of a Military Chief’ that ‘In early June 1999 itself, the Indian Navy’s Western Fleet took a major initiative by rapidly deploying and occupying the North Arabian Sea. In this context, the intentions of demonstrating our capabilities against Pakistan under Operation Talwar were very clear. All the combat elements of the Navy were put into action. This included finding out the current position of the Pakistani Navy and ensuring that the maritime areas, the oil installations of Bombay High, the coastal areas and all assets of strategic importance in Gujarat were well protected. The strategy behind this was to not give Pakistan any opportunity and to ensure that if Pakistan dared to think of expanding the fight from the Kargil area, the Navy would open another front of war from one side in the south.’
In fact, Operation Talwar was the largest ever deployment of Indian Navy ships in the North Arabian Sea. The Western Fleet was additionally augmented by ships of the Eastern Fleet, which in itself was sufficient to deal with the Pakistani Navy. Along with this, naval aircraft, submarines, landing ships and coast guard ships were also included for special missions. Apart from this, when Pakistani officials started threatening nuclear bombs, Indian ships were responded by moving them closer to the Pakistan coast. This was a clear indication that we will not bow down even to the threat of nuclear bombs. Then it was also reported in the Pakistani media that about 30 Indian warships have reached the doorstep of Karachi in the North Arabian Sea, which has increased the fear of war supplies being blocked for Pakistan. Pakistan was forced to move its ships due to fear of attack by the Indian Navy.
Vice Admiral GM Hiranandani, a naval historian, has written about the Kargil war in his book ‘Transition to Guardianship’ that the Pakistani Naval Headquarters signaled its ships to stay away from the Indian Navy and the warships to remain at the ports. Pakistan’s weakness was further demonstrated when it started moving its oil tankers from the Persian Gulf to the Makran coast. It also came to light that the blockade of Karachi and the interruption of oil supplies from the Persian Gulf could create serious problems for Pakistan to continue the war. This strategy of the Indian Navy gave time to the Army and Air Force to gain their lead and turn the initial setback into a memorable victory.
The then Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said after the Kargil conflict that the Indian Navy had virtually encircled Karachi, leaving Pakistan with only six days of fuel supply for the war. Our Navy also intercepted and arrested a North Korean ship from Karachi, which was carrying missile components to Pakistan and aiding their war efforts. Thus, in true sense, the bold deployment of the Indian Navy and the readiness displayed with ample signs of resolve had a great impact on the Kargil conflict. As Admiral Sushil Kumar also says, ‘The overwhelming superiority of our Navy had a serious impact on Pakistan.’ In the Kargil war, the Indian Navy also kept Pakistan under constant pressure and forced it not to use its navy and helped India achieve Vijayshree.
